EDH’s Supervisors Baumann and Dupray were greatly distressed with the Department of Transportation's CIP report that lacked some expected projects anticipated for the El Dorado Hills area in the next five years.
The road improvement schedule has been delayed due to the decrease in available funds caused from the economic slowdown affecting all new building. A unique funding issue involving El Dorado Hills Road Improvement Fees (RIF) has eliminated, from the "Five Year Plan", several projects that were anticipated in the EDH area.
According to DOT Director Richard Shepard, the TIM fees charged do cover the roads needed, but the time period in which they are needed has expanded due to population growth rate decreases. Put another way, the expected build-out period was 10 years and the 5-year CIP (DOT building plan) covered about 50% of the projects, whereas today’s decrease in new housing starts has extended the build-out period to 20 years and the 5-year CIP now represents just 25% of the projects. These numbers are used for illustration and do not represent actual numbers. The current plan does not include the Saratoga Road to Iron Mountain Road. Not because they will not be connected, but because they have been pushed out of the five-year horizon by the building slowdown. This does not include the Silva Valley Interchange, which is in a dedicated fund and is regularly increasing. Unfortunately, with the housing slowdown, this funds real value is decreasing as the cost of construction increases at a rate exceeding the increase in the Interchange fund.
Without new funds coming into the RIF fund, no new projects can proceed. This revelation was a body-blow to area Supervisors who vow to investigate "where the money went." DOT officials are confident that RIF funds have been lawfully used and accounted for and note that road fees collected from areas outside the EDH Zone cannot be used to fund EDH projects. This is caused by a provision in the original RIF that directs that all funds to build needed roads must be paid by development within EDHs. A similar restriction exist in the Voter approved Measure Y, which effectively disallows some other moneys that could be used to improve local roads by stipulating that the funds must come from developers. Without new development, many road improvements cannot be done under today’s regulations.
During a recent Town Hall meeting in El Dorado Hills, DOT Director Richard Shepard answered the Supervisors question. Public comment stated that 10% of the county roads are in the EDHs area and that 25% of the population is there. A chart provided by Shepard indicated that 60% of CIP funds are spent in El Dorado Hills. Supervisors Baumann & Dupray opened the meeting expressing serious concern about delays in building both the Saratoga-Iron Mt. roads connector and the realignment of the north end of El Dorado Hills Blvd. Supervisor Dupray expressed concern that monies from EDHs had been shifted to Diamond Spring Parkway. Director Shepard put this concern to bed early with the explanation that not was the money not shifted, it can not be shifted. In addition, he provided a map indicating where and when CIP projects are occurring in the Placerville to western county line. Although the
five year plan was the central issue to some elected officials, the majority of the meeting was public comment and no member of the public mentioned these projects. The public was much more concerned about the more practical matters of when existing roads would receive maintained and when stop lights would be timed for better flow.
